New Nukes
Jonathan Porritt: If you are a minister in a government that spent its first 10 years in office talking on and on about the merits of energy efficiency and renewable power, but actually doing very little about it, then conjuring up a programme of nuclear power as a “get out when all else fails” sort of makes sense. If you are chief executive of a large energy company in a country where the regulatory system does not permit you to make much money on your renewable investments, and no money at all from selling fewer electrons (to increase efficiency) rather than more, then taking a punt on a couple of nuclear reactors definitely makes sense. All the more so since you can pretty much guarantee that the government will pick up the tab for anything that goes wrong. All these pretexts for resuscitating our moribund nuclear industry remain utterly unconvincing. Two years ago it was the consensus view that companies bidding for new reactors would require no subsidy. Six months ago that bold (and some would say preposterous) assertion was put aside with a much more honest acknowledgement from E.ON, EDF and others that substantial amounts of public money would be required after all. Indeed, the case was made that the government would have to stop subsidising renewables in order to prioritise nuclear.
Guardian 21st Oct 2009 more >>
UTV 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Dealing with the problems of old age lies at the heart of the nuclear industry’s challenge to convince the public of its safety: leaky power plants, crumbling waste stores nearing the end of their lives and overworked inspectors who do not have the time to assess properly the next generation of power stations. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), has admitted that the possibility of a serious accident at Britain’s biggest nuclear complex, Sellafield in Cumbria, is still “far too high”, while questioning the safety designs of new reactors being submitted for approval. The warning comes months after the Observer revealed an internal NII report that detailed 1,767 leaks, breakdowns and other mishaps around the atomic industry over the last seven years. “We have serious concern about your proposal, [to build EPRs] which allows lower safety class systems or manual controls to [override] higher safety class systems,” it says in a letter, suggesting the operating and safety mechanisms should be able to operate independently. Finnish regulators have also questioned this aspect of an EPR being built at Olkiluoto. The NII is questioning both Areva and a rival company, Westinghouse, about how their designs would stand up to a 9/11-style attack from the air.
Guardian 21st Oct 2009 more >>
The Taxpayers’ Alliance has said that nuclear power plant construction jobs should not be funded by new taxes or levies. Earlier this week, the Guardian reported that the government was planning to subsidise the building of new nuclear power stations with a tax on electricity bills. Matthew Sinclair, research director for the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said the planned construction jobs should not be funded by members of the public already paying over the odds for their utility bills.
Career Engineer 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Uranium
On uranium, Gordon MacKerron, an energy expert at the University of Sussex, says: “We are extremely unlikely to run short of uranium for a very long time.” The suggestion that good quality uranium supplies are becoming scarce is fanciful, he adds. Much of the planet’s uranium supplies are yet to be surveyed and with new markets emerging in Namibia and Kazakhstan the supply of nuclear fuel is not expected to peak until 2015 at the earliest. In terms of emissions, nuclear power is often described as having no CO2 emissions; this is only really true once a nuclear plant is operational. The mining and preparation of the fuel and the construction of the power plants all carry a carbon price tag. However even when this is taken into account, nuclear comes out looking relatively clean. Plants produce on average 2-20 tonnes of carbon per gigawatt-hour of energy. According to a report by the Sustainable Development Commission, the government’s independent watchdog, this makes nuclear power orders of magnitude better than fossil fuels and on a par with wind power.
Guardian 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Nuclear Police
The nuclear industry funds the special armed police force which guards its installations across the UK, and secret documents, seen by the Guardian, show the 750-strong force is authorised to carry out covert intelligence operations against anti-nuclear protesters, one of its main targets.
Guardian 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Hinkley
AN ENERGY company is proposing to build up to nine wind turbines just a few miles from another of its sites earmarked for a controversial new nuclear power station. EDF Energy Renewables (EDF ER) has released plans to develop a new wind farm at Withy Farm, Puriton, near Bridgwater in Somerset.
Western Morning News 20th Oct 2009 more >>
This is the West Country 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Waste Transport
Shipments of compacted metallic waste resulting from the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel have been sent by rail from France back to Switzerland and the Netherlands for final disposal. The metal came from the zirconium-iron-pewter alloy tubes that formed the structure of nuclear fuel assemblies. During reprocessing, the rods are sheared into 35-mm lengths and dissolved in nitric acid so that powdered uranium, plutonium and other fission products can be chemically extracted and recycled. The shards of metal are removed from the acid, before being rinsed, packed and compacted along with certain other technological waste. Ultimately the metal leftovers end up in metal canisters similar to those that hold vitrified high-level radioactive waste.
World Nuclear News 14th Oct 2009 more >>
Radioactive Waste
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are looking at whether to allow the nuclear industry to use ordinary landfill sites to dispose of radioactive waste. Since 2007 it’s been legal to use landfill for getting rid of very low-level waste, which includes plastic, clothing, metal and building rubble. The NDA said this made up around 90 per cent of radioactive waste but contained “less than 0.0003 per cent” of radioactivity.
Public Service 20th Oct 2009 more >>
The trouble is, when it comes to dumping its waste, the nuclear industry simply cannot be trusted. Regulations are flouted and scrutiny is avoided. How can we be sure that other, more dangerous waste won’t find its way into these sites? There are, after all, so many past examples.
Nuclear Reactions 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Regulation
The Conservative Party is drawing up plans for drastic job cuts at Ofgem, the energy regulator, as part of a sweeping overhaul of British energy policy.
Times 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Test Veterans
A NUCLEAR test veteran from Fife has accused the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of further delaying tactics as he continues his long drawn out fight for compensation.
Dundee Courier 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Australia
Australia does not (yet) have nuclear power but its most prominent nuclear reactor is at Lucas Heights in Sydney. On 21 October 2009, the Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam was told that several incidents had occurred at the reactor since 2008.
Hazards Magazine 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Finland
The Finnish radiation and safety authority, Stuk, has concluded in a preliminary safety assessment that Fennovoima has the qualifications to construct its proposed nuclear power plant safely and in accordance with Finland’s nuclear energy act.
World Nuclear News 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Argus Media 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Iran
Talks between Iran and three world powers over Tehran’s nuclear programme were stalled last night after the Iranian delegation put a range of obstacles in the path of an agreement to reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium. Although negotiations between Iran, the US, Russia and France will resume today in Vienna, Tehran appeared to be blocking attempts at agreement, saying it would not negotiate directly with the French delegation because of grievances over bilateral issues.
FT 21st Oct 2009 more >>
BBC 20th Oct 2009 more >>
Telegraph 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Israel and the United States launched a major air defence drill on Wednesday as part of what Israeli public radio called preparation for a faceoff with Iran.
Herald 21st Oct 2009 more >>
Nuclear Weapons
Letter: Rotblat went on to totally repudiate deterrence and came to the view that the only course of action open to him was to work towards the complete abolition of nuclear weapons.
Times 21st Oct 2009 more >>
